Q8 MAINE STATE COLLEGE 



Other Observations ox the Effect of Food upon BrrrEK. 



Ladd, at the Xew York State Experiment Station (Rep. 1888 

 p. 291) investigated the effect of introducing Linseed Meal into 

 the ration and found an increase in the iodine number and also in 

 the viscosity. Harrington, at the Texas Experiment Station 

 (Rep. 1880. p. 100). found that a grain ration entirely of Cotton- 

 seed -Meal raised the melting point of the butter and also the per 

 centage of volatile acids. He sent samples of the same butter to 

 Prof. Wiley of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, whose 

 examination (see Rep. Dept. Agr. 1889, p. 181) corroborated 

 Harrington's results and showed, moreover, that the iodine number 

 for the Cotton-seed butter was higher than for the other. A 

 second set of samples received by Wiley from Harrington did not 

 show such marked results. Prof. Wiley subsequently made an 

 investigation (loc. cit. p. 184) in co-operation with the Maryland 

 Experiment Station, and he found here that the Cotton-seed 

 caused an elevation of the melting point and a lowering of the 

 percentage of volatile acids. The iodine number, contrary to the 

 previous investigations, was diminished rather than increased by 

 the feeding of Cotton-seed. 



An experiment conducted by the Xew Hampshire Experiment 

 Station (see Bulletin Xo. 13) indicated that cotton-seed meal 

 increased the hardness of the butter, that gluten meal produced a 

 softer butter than corn meal, ensilage a softer butter than hay, 

 and that there is a more or less definite relation between hardness 

 and the iodine absorption number. The opinion was also expressed 

 that the results showed no definite relation between the melting 

 point and the hardness. 



Mayer, a German chemist, has made quite an elaborate investi- 

 gation (Landw. Yers. Stat. Yol. 35. p. 261) and he reached the 

 following conclusions : 



(1.) The amount of volatile fatty acids in butter rises and 

 falls with the rise and fall of the specific gravity. 



(2.) The melting point of battel depends more upon the 

 amount of olein in butter than upon the amount of butyrin. capro- 

 nin, etc. (compounds of the volatile acids), present. 



(3.) The content of volatile fatty acids in butter varies for an 

 individual cow within wide limits. 



(4.) The content of volatile fatty acids in butter fat is depend- 

 ent upon the period of lactation (length of time the cow has been 

 milked; and diminishes in general with the advance of the same. 



